Won! Meet the Moodsters Ended 8/31

I don’t know about you but my kiddo is emotional. Like, really emotional. I’m not surprised. I come from a long line of overly emotional people and we’re proud of it! But, it’s tough for a pre-school aged child to identify what they’re feeling and why. That’s why I am so excited to be a brand ambassador for a new line of toys that are coming to Target in September….the Moodsters! The Moodsters are mood detectives that help Zach and his sister Zoey understand the way that they, and the people around them, are feeling. This line of books and toys was designed by pediatricians, moms, educators and researchers at Yale University to help kids develop their emotional IQ (EQ) from a very early age. As soon as I started reading these to my kiddo, he was naming his feelings and asking to read the books again and again and again. I couldn’t believe how excited he was about understanding his emotions with these fun stories and likeable characters. There’s hope for our crazy bunch, yet!

That’s why I’m super excited to be giving away a book and toy combo just as they reach the shelves at your local Target! There are 8 ways to enter and you can earn more entries every day.

Enter Here

Here’s what you could win:

Every parent has a thermometer for taking a child’s temperature—now every house should have a Moodster Meter for taking a child’s emotional temperature! Young children don’t always have the vocabulary to describe their emotions, so the Moodster Meter provides a safe, fun, interactive way for kids to show how they’re feeling inside.

They just push the Power Up button to align with the character and emotion that represents what they feel: Snorf (sad), Lolly (loving), Quigly (afraid), Razzy (angry), or Coz (happy). By putting the tools for expression right in their hands, the Moodster Meter makes it so much easier for young kids to talk about what’s going on inside.

The Moodster Meter comes with a full-color, 32-page storybook, Meet the Moodsters, that introduces your child to each character’s unique personality and emotion in the fun context of magic! The adventures of Zach and his sister Zoey along with their pals the Moodsters explore all sorts of emotional scenarios. The Moodster Meter will be available at Target and Target.com in September for $19.99.

I also was lucky enough to interview the creator, Denise Daniels, about how and why she brought the Moodsters to life. Here’s what she had to say:

Why did you choose these five emotions to focus on: happy, sad, afraid, angry, loving?

We did a lot of research with Dr. Marc Brackett of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. He confirmed that these are the primary emotions kids experience. He and I talked about developing a curriculum that was appropriate for kids. We thought easiest way was to have colors to represent the primary emotions. It helps drive the message home when children are drawing their feelings.

You’ve worked with children in many capacities—as a pediatric nurse, as a counselor, doing grief therapy with children around the world, now with The Moodsters. What drew you to work with children in the first place?

I’m kind of like a child that’s never grown up. I’ve always loved the honesty of children, and I love watching children play—we learn so much by observing our children and sitting back and listening.

I started out in labor and delivery as a nurse, then I switched to pediatric oncology. I had so much to learn from working with these kids and their emotional maturity. It touched my heart, and I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of.

How did you get interested in the subject of children’s emotions and how they deal with them? Why is that so important?

Several years ago, I founded a nonprofit organization called The National Childhood Grief Institute. It really tapped into an unmet need, because people weren’t talking about kids and grief. I had the opportunity to travel throughout world for the State Department and for other nonprofit organizations to work with kids experiencing trauma, loss, grief, family transitions. No matter what country I was in, no matter what language they spoke, and regardless of socioeconomic background, all children’s feelings were universal.

Then it became my mission to help kids understand their emotions, and to help the caring grown-ups in their lives teach them about emotions. Many of these children don’t have the cognitive capacity or the vocabulary to talk about feelings. It’s our job to give them the words.

Denise Daniels is a Peabody award-winning broadcast journalist, parenting and child development expert and author who specializes in the social and emotional development of children. Her books have reached more than 15 million parents and children offering practical, simple and essential advice on how to deal with grief, loss and family transitions, as well as the everyday challenges of growing up. Denise hosted her own daily parenting show, Parents Helper, on NBC’s cable network and has appeared on numerous TV shows including Oprah, The View and served as a regular contributor on TODAY. For more information, please go to www.denisedanielsparenting.com and follow Denise on Twitter-@DeniseDanielsEQ and Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/DeniseDanielsParenting

Leisa, you’re so right. Understanding the way that other people feel and expressing empathy is an important part of forming healthy relationships throughout life. The Moodsters are designed to help kids have fun developing that understanding. Thanks for entering!

I think it’s important to teach a child about emotional intelligence because a child’s mind and personality are forming at a young age. Their feelings are real….but just like we were taught, they have to know how, when and where to display them.

No kidding. Sometimes I wish that I could just flatten myself on the floor and kick and scream because I’m tired or don’t want to eat my salad for lunch. Ha! Luckily, I learned how to cope with my feelings and don’t actually do that. It would be fun though, just for a day, don’t you think?